He hadn’t had the opportunity to contact anybody to give them the heads-up or dash in and remove any evidence. He’d not made any attempt to use his phone. They’d taken him far too quickly by surprise. Nor had he been able to dispose of all the cocaine he had.
Jenna flipped the passenger sun visor down and peered at Ryan’s reflection in the mirror. Credit where credit was due.
‘That was a good arrest, Ryan. Smooth.’ She moved her attention away as he flushed up, happy to give him the praise and let him preen for a while. His development was coming along. She cast a sideways glance at Mason. ‘You too. Although do you think you can try to refrain from hitting people?’
‘It wasn’t a hit, it was a block.’
‘With your fist.’
‘There is that, but I was left with no choice.’
‘There’s always a choice.’
‘I have no regrets. My only regret was the bloody awful waste of coffee all over the floor. I could have had one of those. My fix for the day.’ His mouth pulled down at the edges in a classic Mason sulk. ‘Now I'm going to have to wait till we get back to the station.’
‘I did buy you one.’
‘It was bloody cold. Nothing worse.’
Jenna flicked her gaze up to meet Ryan’s in the mirror. His cheeks dimpled as he raised the cardboard cup in a salute and took a gulp of the cold liquid.
Jenna took pity on her partner – after all, she could barely function without caffeine. ‘We'll call and get you one on the way back if you want.’
Easily consoled, Mason grinned.
‘I'll have one.’ Ryan piped up from the back seat and made her grin. If there was one thing Ryan brought to the party it was his boyish enthusiasm and exuberance.
They pulled up outside the address and before Mason could get out the car, Jenna reached out to stop him.
‘Hold on a moment. Let's just look at what we're taking on.’
23
Monday 20 April 0730 hours
Jenna scanned the outside facade of the building. Typical new town Telford build. Red brick, red roofing tiles, lifeless. Windows flat. Built in the 1970s to accommodate the influx of people from the surrounding areas. The overspill of Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Rabbit hutches that served the purpose of a utilitarian house with none of the attractiveness of the current new builds.
Jenna squinted as she studied each of the flat unattractive windows, checking for any movement behind curtains that hung limp and lifeless as though they’d been dragged back in haste that morning.
A movement out of the corner of her eye caught her attention and Jenna turned her head to watch the approach of a handsome Dalmatian high-stepping along the street towards them on the end of a jaunty red lead.
Three additional dogs by his side failed to catch her attention so fully. Dalmatians had that effect. Once you had one, you would always immediately have your attention drawn by the sheer beauty of the breed, the elegance, the powerful presence.
With a small jolt of recognition, Jenna gawped for a split second longer, a frisson of electricity flowed through her and stopped the breath in her chest.
She lowered herself down her seat and tugged at Mason’s jacket sleeve. ‘Shit, shit.’
Mason’s eyes widened before he hunched his shoulders and slipped down in his seat, his knees giving a hard knock against the steering wheel as he scrunched himself into the smallest space he could.
‘Fuck! It’s Domino.’
His brows pulled low as he peered over the steering wheel, his neck stretching as he took a quick peek at the fast approach of the woman and four dogs.
‘It's bloody Lena, the dog walker. What the hell is she doing all the way over here?’
Confused, Jenna ran a quick hand through her hair as she considered her options. With suspicion dominating, Jenna met Mason’s bewildered gaze.
‘Don't let her see us.’
Aware of Ryan’s silence in the back of the car, Jenna glanced through the gap between the two front seats to see Ryan stretched out, coffee still in hand.
Jenna peeked out of the front window again as the dog walker paused while the big black Labrador squatted. Lena fished a bag out of her pocket and hunkered down to perform a very efficient one-handed scoop of the poop. As the woman looked down at the bag while she tied the handles in a knot, Jenna raised her radio to her lips.
‘Chris, where are you?’ From where they’d parked, she couldn’t see the dog van.
‘Just stopped around the corner from you, by the field. I thought the boy might want a quick run and a pee before I brought him in. Clear his nasal passages and keep him on point.’
‘Good. Could you stay there? I have a bit of a strange situation. Domino’s here with his dog walker. I don’t want to spook her if she sees the dog van.’
‘Your new dog walker? What’s she doing here? It’s a long way off your patch.’
‘It certainly is. That’s what I’m hoping to find out. I’ll let you know when I have something interesting to tell you. In the meantime, let Blue have his run.’
‘No problem, I’ll join you when he’s done. I’m in the unmarked van today.’
‘Great.’
Jenna turned the volume down on Airwaves, so instead of the harsh crackle it was a low buzz while she considered her options. She could get out of the car and approach Lena, but everything about the situation screamed at her not to. She stayed low and frowned as the group of canines headed towards their vehicle again.
Jenna blew out a breath. ‘I don’t know why, but I have a bad feeling about this.’
‘Me too. What the hell is she doing here? She must have driven. Why would you walk dogs in an entirely different part of Telford?’
‘Maybe she got her schedule mixed up and had to juggle things.’ Ryan shuffled forward to poke his head in between the seats. ‘Perhaps she had an emergency to cover, someone else let the team down. One of the other walkers has gone sick.’
‘Maybe.’ Jenna agreed. ‘Doesn’t sit right though.’ She lowered her voice to a whisper as though the woman could hear every word she uttered. ‘Would you recognise her car if you saw it?’
Mason raised his head again and searched the street. ‘Yep. There it is.’
24
Monday 20 April 0740 hours
‘Ryan, can you see? Have a look out.’
Ryan shuffled around in the back seat, nudging his bony knees into the back of Jenna's chair hard enough to have her oofing out a lungful of air.
‘Watch where she's going.’ Jenna kept her voice to a low hiss. Instinct had her slipping lower in her seat and hitching up the collar of her jacket in case the woman happened to glance over as she passed by.
‘What’s she doing, Ryan?’
The pressure on her kidneys was miraculously relieved as Ryan shot back up behind her.
He scooted over to the other side of the car for a better view while Jenna kept low. ‘She's crossed the road, and she's… Oh, shit.’
Tempted to leap up, Jenna held still. ‘What? What?’ She wriggled around to look through the gap between the front seats at Ryan. ‘What’s she doing?’